


a tablespoon of love

by orphan_account



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, bday brownies are in, brotherhood era, vday chocolates are out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 17:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13745622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Noctis is going to make Ignis the best birthday brownies he's ever had.





	a tablespoon of love

**Author's Note:**

> written for @kanamycinblog on twitter for the @ffxvalentines exchange

Noct slumps further down into the couch, curling his legs up and frowning. He taps away at his phone—he’s _so close_ to a new high score—and huffs in satisfaction as he passes his old score. As the game tallies his total score, he looks up, a thought dawning on him.

“Your birthday’s in a week.”

Ignis pauses the soft tune he’s humming to make a noise of acknowledgement from the kitchen. “So it is.”

Noct tosses his phone onto the coffee table and turns onto his side, watching Ignis. He’s stirring something in a bowl and periodically referring to his phone. Whether it’s a recipe he’s looking at or just the news or something, Noct isn’t sure.

“Is there anything you want?” he prods, and Ignis looks up at him, eyebrows raised.

“You needn’t trouble yourself about it,” he says, mouth curling, “but that’s thoughtful of you to ask.”

Noct rolls his eyes and props his chin up in his hand. “I’m _supposed_ to trouble myself about it, it’s your birthday. So answer my question.” 

Ignis hums again but doesn’t reply. He takes the bowl from the island to the counter and begins adding whatever’s in it to the pot on the stove. Sizzling fills the apartment and Noct inhales on reflex. _Damn, that’s heavenly._

“Specs.”

“Yes?” He doesn’t even turn around.

Noct slumps back down on the couch with a groan. “You’re an ass.”

“Duly noted.”

“This isn’t gonna stop me from getting you something. It’s just gonna mean there’s a higher chance you’re not gonna like it.”

Ignis chuckles at that and Noct smiles to himself. “I trust you know me well enough to make good judgements.”

That gives Noct pause and his brow creases in thought. _Does_ he know Ignis well enough to get him something he’d like? His first instinct is books maybe, but he can’t actually say which genre—if any—Ignis prefers. They read all sorts of astrology and astronomy books as kids, but Ignis has all those, and he doesn’t go around with a Novel of the Week like Gladio does.

_Clothes? No, he’s too particular about them._ Noct snorts softly. Ignis threw a fit about his Crownsguard fatigues and that was when _he_ had been the one to put in the specifics he wanted. No telling what kind of fit he’d throw if _Noct_ tried to guess what he liked.

Ignis isn’t a jewelry person beyond the little skull necklace Noct had gotten him for his birthday years ago as kids, and he doesn’t keep trinkets or knickknacks for sentimentality, so that’s out. Gift cards? Too impersonal—plus the Crownsguard pays for anything he might want a gift card for.

_Maybe food?_ He considers this. Food is always an appreciated gift and being handmade by Noct himself would give it that personal touch that makes it more significant. Or something to that effect. _Yeah, that sounds doable._

But what _kind_ of food to make? Ignis isn’t a sweets person per se but he does enjoy a pastry or dessert from time to time. He likes greasy, savory foods, but Noct’s not sure that’s in his arsenal of meagre food-making abilities.

_But he_ does _like chocolate. Is that too romantic, though?_ Noct bites his lip. It doesn’t help that Ignis’s birthday is a week before Valentine’s and that everywhere in Insomnia is already prepping for it, pushing couples’ dates ideas and chocolates and flowers. Just today on his walk home from the arcade Prompto pointed out four different cafés already hanging heart decorations up.

Noct resituates himself on the couch where he’s upside down, feet over the back. He watches Ignis putter around, humming to himself and swaying his hips to the music in his head. Whatever he’s making has permeated the apartment with its aroma, and Noct’s mouth is starting to water.

“That smells _fantastic_ , Specs,” he all but moans. “Is it ready yet?”

“Just about.” Ignis gives him a Look from over the rim of his glasses. “How about you make yourself useful for once and set the table?”

“Do I _have to?_ ” he moans, but he pushes himself up from the couch and pads over to help.

Ignis just smiles saccharine sweet and absolutely fake and points to the counter. Noct sticks his tongue out and grabs the condiments Ignis set aside, setting them on the plates to carry it all over to the table. From the looks and smell of it, Ignis has been looking up new Galahdian recipes.  Or maybe—

“Did Nyx send you some new recipes?” he asks, setting the plates in their usual spots adjacent to each other. He holds up a bottle of tabasco sauce. “Because this isn’t your usual fare.”

“I felt like branching out,” Ignis says with a shrug. “Nyx offered some of his more preferred dishes with a promise that I’ll save some for him.”

Noct’s shoulders slump. “You mean I don’t get to eat it _all_ by myself? I have to _share?”_ He can’t contain his grin as Ignis gives him another Look. “I’m kidding, Specs! I know how to share.”

Ignis’s face goes through a twist of expressions in the _disbelief_ family and Noct gives him an offended pout. “Hey!”

“I didn’t say a word, your highness.”

“ _Hey._ ”

Ignis is biting his lip on a smile, Noct can see it. “Apologies, Noct.”

“Better.”

Noct huffs as he plops into his chair. Ignis starts bringing over the food itself, setting down a platter of warm flatbread and corn chips as well as a skillet of meat. The pot has some kind of thick, spicy-smelling soup in it that makes Noct’s stomach grumble as Ignis sets it in the middle of the table.

“Wow, you really outdid yourself this time, Specs.” Noct has to make a conscious effort not to drool all over himself. He starts filling his plate with some of everything and makes sure his bowl is near overflowing with the soup. “This looks amazing!”

“Thank you, Noct.” Ignis inclines his head in that humbly accepting way of his but Noct can hear the pride in his voice. “I’m glad my efforts aren’t completely in vain.”

Noct can’t argue through his mouthful of meat-filled flatbread, so he settles for pointing his meat skewer at Ignis menacingly. Ignis is not menaced in the least and Noct blames it on his chipmunking technique to stuff as much as possible into his mouth at once.

This settles it. Noct is going to make Ignis something for his birthday and it’s going to be the best gods-damned chocolate he’s ever had. He’ll make it all from scratch—he’s sure he can find a recipe for that online. Somewhere. But it’s going to be great and hopefully go a little ways to show how much he really does appreciate everything Ignis does for him.

And if it’s a little romantic? Well. Nothing like confessing to your closest, most trusted person on his birthday that you maybe want to hold his hand kiss his face, right?

 

 

Making everything from scratch is a more arduous journey than Noct expects. Intellectually he knows chocolate comes from a plant somewhere and is just highly processed before it’s mass-sold to places everywhere, but it doesn’t really register with him until he’s looking up places to procure cacao beans because he wants these brownies to be the most authentic handmade brownies Ignis has ever had.

His dad gets wind of this, somehow, and thinks it’s the most romantic thing he’s ever heard. He enlists the help of Cor and Monica to help Noct obtain cacao beans from a special farm in the Duscae region, and only by the grace of Shiva does everyone in the Crownsguard _except_ Ignis learn of Noct’s little scheme.

Gladio just smirks knowingly when Noct and Ignis are together with him in the training rooms and Noct knows Ignis knows something is up, and it’s only because Ignis has the decency to wait for Noct to go to him about it that he doesn’t ask. Noct is glad for this.

To retaliate, Noct makes Gladio help in shelling all the beans once they arrive and have undergone their required drying-out time (It also puts him out a little that chocolate comes from _beans_ of all things, but this is for a good cause so he sucks it up and deals with it). Gladio is less than amused because Noct basically makes him do all the work, but that’s what he gets for being an ass and Noct feels justified.

Seeing as the brownies themselves take maybe forty minutes total to prepare and bake, Noct doesn’t make them until the actual day. As requested, Cor makes sure to give Ignis just enough extra work that he has to stay a little later at the Citadel before he’s able to come over to the apartment—he texts Noct right before his classes let out that he won’t be over until later, apologies, would you like anything special for dinner?—and Noct tells him not to worry, it’s cool, how about that paella you like so much since it’s your birthday after all?

He seems genuinely, but pleasantly, surprised that Noct remembered one of his favorite foods, and a small, uncomfortable knot settles in his gut stemming from the thought that Ignis thinks Noct doesn’t appreciate him. He vows to start paying more attention to the little details.

But that’s a problem for later. Staring at all the needed ingredients spread out on his counter, Noct places his hands on his hips and takes a deep breath. The clock reads 3:13—he’s got a little over an hour and a half before Ignis is due to show up.

“Well.” Noct pulls out his phone and brings up his chosen recipe. Simple and concise. He sets his phone beside his ingredients. “Let’s get to it.”

He combines butter, sugar, cocoa powder— _handmade!_ —and salt in a mixing bowl and follows the instructions to heat and stir it at intervals until the butter is melted. Once cooled— _warm to the touch but not hot_ —he adds in the vanilla extract and both eggs one at a time. He pours in the flour and stirs until he can’t see it anymore, then beats it again, and then pours the mixture into his baking pan.

It’s actually pretty soothing, this baking schtick. Noct can sort of understand why Ignis gets so into it. He sets a timer for twenty minutes and watches through the window of his oven as the tray sits there, baking.

But, well, watching it isn’t going to make it go faster, so Noct washes his bowls and utensils and cleans up after himself. Plus, the less mess he leaves, the quicker Ignis can get to cooking dinner, which is the next most important thing here.

He takes the brownies out when the timer goes off and sets them aside to cool. They look pretty good for a first-ever attempt, and the apartment smells like cocoa, so he figures he did something right. After making sure the kitchen is cleared of his mess, he spends the rest of the hour lying listlessly on the couch, periodically scrolling through social media on his phone.

Ignis arrives just after five. Noct hops up to help carry in the bags of groceries weighing him down.

“I got these,” he says, taking the majority of them from a slightly panting Ignis. Ignis thanks him softly, using his now free hand to brush his hair from his eyes, and follows him into the kitchen. Noct bites his lip when Ignis pauses pointedly, looking in the direction of the brownies. His eyes are wide and he looks to Noct.

“Happy birthday, Iggy,” Noct says softly. His heart is beating hard in his chest. “I, uh. I told you I wanted to do something for you, so. I made brownies.”

“You _made_ these?” Ignis repeats, full of awe, and warm pride fills Noct. Ignis’s hand hovers over the plate, as if he’s afraid of disturbing it. “They look fantastic, Noct.”

Noct looks away, face hot, and rubs the back of his head with a shrug. “Eh, it’s nothing. Found the recipe online, followed the instructions. It wasn’t too terrible. Getting ahold of cacao beans is not as easy as you’d think, though.”

“Cacao beans?” Ignis looks at the brownie in his hand in disbelief. “You made your own _cocoa powder?_ ”

There’s a pause. “Maybe?”

“ _Noct.”_ Ignis shakes his head and smiles with so much genuine fondness Noct feels his breath leave him. “You didn’t have to go to that kind of trouble for me, you know. Store bought would have more than sufficed.”

Noct sniffs, pretending to be offended even as embarrassment creeps up on him. It _was_ kind of taking it a little too seriously, if he thinks about it. “You deserve better than store bought, Specs. Especially on your birthday. It’s the least I could do.”

“ _Least,_ he says,” Ignis chuckles, and he finally bites into the brownie in his hand, completely disregarding the fact they haven’t eaten dinner yet. He hums in utter content and is _still smiling._ “This is divine, Noct! Most excellent!”

Noct huffs a laugh. “Now you’re just saying things to boost my ego.”

Ignis scoffs, eyes twinkling. “As if you need it.” He finishes off the brownie in two more bites, licking his fingers. “Now. How about dinner?”

Noct pushes himself from the counter, grinning. “Sounds like a plan. Can I help?”

“It really _must_ be my birthday,” Ignis laughs, but he makes room for Noct to stand at his side. “Absolutely.”

It’s even nicer cooking with Ignis. Noct doesn’t do a whole lot other than cut up ingredients and add them to the pot when instructed, and he leaves the seasoning and technical detailing to Ignis, but it’s nice. Ignis hums as he moves about the kitchen and Noct is pretty sure he doesn’t realize he’s doing it. It’s soft, and he drops notes here and there like he’s not actively aware he’s humming at all.

They’re familiar tunes, though—ones the two of them played countless times on the piano as kids, ones Noct listened to Ignis practice on violin, the lullaby Ignis still hums to him at night when he has trouble sleeping.

It makes for a light, pleasant atmosphere and mixes well with the savory smell of the paella filling the air. It’s maybe a little spicy for Noct’s tastes, but he can never bring himself to turn down food that Ignis makes.

When they’re done with dinner and the dishes have been done, Noct insists Ignis stay for a while to relax and enjoy the rest of his birthday night free from paperwork. Ignis acquiesces with less fight than he expected and they curl up on the couch, the plate of brownies on the coffee table with tall glasses of milk—because nothing beats milk and brownies for dessert.

Noct lays his head on Ignis’s shoulder, settling into his side. Ignis’s arm settles around him. He holds up a brownie, the biggest and crumbliest he could find, in front of Ignis’s mouth, eyebrow raised. He snorts as Ignis makes a show of taking a big bite and moaning around it theatrically. He brushes chocolate from the corner of Ignis’s mouth with his thumb and smiles.

“Hope you’ve had a good birthday, Specs.”

“It’s been very enjoyable,” Ignis says. He squeezes Noct’s shoulders and turns his head to press a kiss into Noct’s hair. He softly adds, “Thank you, Noct.”

It isn’t just about making him the brownies.

“Anytime, Iggy.”

**Author's Note:**

> will i ever write something with actual plot?? who knows
> 
>  
> 
> come yell about these dorks with me on [tumblr!](http://duscaenorange.tumblr.com)


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